After a hard-fought win over Boston College in Week 10, the Florida State Seminoles have a short week to prepare for the Pittsburgh Panthers. Interim coach Rick Stockstill will be hitting the road for the second time in his first two games in his new position with the program.
Stockstill is a veteran who coached Middle Tennessee for nearly two decades, and with that experience comes an understanding of how to adapt the offense to properly attack each opposing defense. Boston College was experts through the air, but the Panthers are going to want to shut down the ground game at all costs.
Stockstill needs to prepare his offense for what should be a tough fight, and leading the charge could be none other than the freshman wide receiver, Jasen Lopez. The injury to Duce Robinson meant someone, somewhere in the receiving room needed to step up, and Lopez did just that against Boston College. Now, he should be able to take another step forward against a team that has struggled to limit opposing receivers.
Florida State could find multiple ways to utilize Jasen Lopez against Pittsburgh
Obviously, Florida State still has Micahi Danzy and Jayvan Boggs, but the difference between them and Lopez lies in who will be covering them. Cruce Brookins and Raion Strader are the two best defensive backs on the roster, combining for 12 pass defenses and three interceptions, with Strader being the bigger danger to snag a turnover.
Florida State needs to assume that one or both of the defensive backs will be covering Boggs and Danzy each play, meaning Lopez will be the mismatch that Ashton Daniels must target.
Last time out against Boston College, Lopez was able to consistently create separation down the field against the Eagles' secondary. Boston College has one of the top pass defenses and secondaries in the ACC, while the Panthers have one of the worst. If Lopez could do it against some of the best in the conference, he should be able to create bigger windows against Pitt on paper.
Aside from Strader and Brookins, the rest of the Panthers' secondary has mainly been on cleanup duty this season. Tony Forney is an interesting name to watch, but he likely will not be matched up against Lopez very often, if at all, during the game.
Creating separation is going to be vital since the Panthers struggle with completion depth more than completion percentage. The Panthers allow 7.5 yards per completion for a grand total of 252.6 yards per game, which are some of the worst numbers in the ACC. Opposing players are catching and running with ease against the Panthers' secondary, and Lopez should have a prime opportunity to do so himself this week.
One big reason why Florida State needs all three receivers to perform against Pitt is the staunch run defense that stands in the way of a potential win. The Panthers have arguably the best run defense in the ACC, and opposing teams are not moving the ball very far on the ground this season against them.
Freshman running back Amari Thomas had an excellent showing against Boston College, rushing for 98 yards and two scores, but the Panthers have an entirely different defense. It might be hard for Thomas to get going on the ground, and Daniels will likely have limited room to run as well.
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